1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chewable edible products, and particularly to such products as may be prepared into candy, or utilized as a base for the delivery of medicaments and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates to the area of chewable comestibles having as part of their utility the ability to be prepared as confectionery products. The preparation of confectionery comestibles is historically well known and has changed very little through the years. In this regard, confectionery items have been classified as either of the "hard" type, or of the soft variety. The present invention relates primarily to this latter type of confection.
The preparation of soft confections such as nougat, involves the combination of two primary components thereof, namely a high boiling syrup such as corn syrup or the like, and a relatively light textured frappe, generally prepared from gelatin, egg albumen, milk proteins such as casein, and vegetable proteins such as soy protein, and the like. The frappe is generally relatively light, and may, for example, range in density from about 0.5 to about 0.7.
By comparison, the high boiled syrup, or "bob syrup", is relatively viscous and possesses a higher density, and frequently contains a substantial amount of sugar. Conventionally, the final nougat composition is prepared by the addition of the "bob syrup" to the frappe under agitation, to form the basic nougat mixture. Further ingredients such as flavorings, oils, additional sugar and the like may be added thereafter also under agitation. A general discussion of the composition and preparation of nougat confections may be found in B. W. Minifie, CHOCOLATE, COCOA AND CONFECTIONERY: Science and Technology, 2nd Edition, AVI Publishing Co., Inc., Westport, Conn., (1980), at Pages 424-425.
Various confections have been considered for a variety of differing utilities, such as the development of products containing medicaments and other additives. Conventionally, hard candies have been utilized for such purposes, as they are, by their composition, easier and less expensive to process. By contrast, the soft candy or nougat possesses the shortcoming of being difficult to process except under conditions of elevated temperature, as the prepared product exhibits insufficient integrity at lower temperatures, to undergo the conventional processing utilized for hard candy. For this reason, the preparation of nougat has defied adaptation to the less expensive and more commercially desirable processing techniques utilized with hard candy.
One of the possible applications of confections is their employment as a vehicle for the delivery of medicaments. In particular, the preparation of antacid products in solid form for oral administration, has received wide attention. Specifically, many of the products presently commercially available employ candy bases that are primarily of the hard candy variety that are nonetheless to be ingested by chewing. Most of these products, when placed in the mouth and chewed, however, cause a plating of the antacid over the mouth that results in the sensation of a chalky taste to the user. Efforts have therefore been directed to the development of chewable antacid products that either reduce or completely eliminate the chalky aftertaste. It would therefore be desirable to develop a chewable confection, and a related method of preparation that would enable such confection to be processed in the same manner and with the same apparatus utilized for hard candy. It would also be desirable to develop a chewable confection that may serve as an effective base for the incorporation of medicaments such as antacids, that would substantially reduce or eliminate the chalky aftertaste experienced by the user when the product is chewed and swallowed.